Hottest place in UK likely to be tiny Sussex village which time forgot

Wiggonholt near Pulborough in the Horsham district reached the highest temperature recorded in the UK in March 2022.

This tiny hamlet has a reputation for breaking all climatic records.

It’s got no pub, school or shop but Wiggonholt keeps breaking all records as the hottest place to be.

It's also one of the most beautiful.

According to Wikipedia, Wiggonholt is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southeast of Pulborough on the A283 road. The village consists of a farm, a few houses and a small Church of England parish church.

The RSPB Pulborough Brooks wildfowl reserve is north of the parish church, on the floodplain of the River Arun. Wiggonholt Common is an area of open woodland south of the village that adjoins Parham Park and is popular with walkers.

A Roman road, the Greensand Way, from north of Lewes passed north of the village to join Stane Street at Hardham on the west bank of the River Arun. The remains of a Roman bath house have been excavated beside the Roman road.

The small rectangular medieval parish church of unknown dedication has a bell turret and Horsham Stone roof, and has a Sussex marble font.

Parham Park is home to Parham House, one of the most spectacular Elizabethan mansions in the country.

The NHS has urged people to take precautions to stay safe as a ‘mini heatwave’ hits Sussex and Surrey.

The entirely of the South East is set to ‘bask in the warmth of a mini-heatwave’, according to NHS England.

A spokesperson for NHS England said: “Temperatures are set to reach highs of 24-27 degrees, and while many people enjoy the warmer days, hot weather can cause some to become unwell through overheating (becoming uncomfortably hot), dehydration, heat exhaustion and heatstroke.”

The hot weather is thanks to warmer air arriving from Scandinavia and central Europe, according to the Met Office.

The weather service said high pressure will continue today (Tuesday, April 29) and tomorrow (Wednesday), with temperatures in the 20s, hitting a weekly high on Thursday.

The Met Office said the highest recorded April temperature was in 1949 when Camden Square in London recorded 29.4°C on April 16. The highest May temperature recorded was 32.8°C on May 22, 1922, also in Camden Square, London.

Chief Meteorologist Jason Kelly said: “Thursday looks set to be the warmest day of the week, with temperatures climbing notably above the seasonal average.

"Overnight temperatures will also be very high in places. It’s possible national and station records for daytime and overnight temperatures may be broken, but it’s unclear at this point whether heatwave criteria will be reached in some of the lower category areas which require temperatures to reach 25°C or above for three consecutive days. The far north will always see cooler conditions, with these more seasonal temperatures likely spreading erratically south later in the week.”